Pricing Your Etsy Merchandise for Wholesale and Retail

When you open up your Etsy shop, you become the proprietor of your own small manufacturing business. That means you need to establish two prices for your goods: the wholesale price and the retail price. The wholesale price is for customers who buy large quantities of your item to resell it. That customer then sells your piece to someone else at the retail price, which is usually double the wholesale price.

Many sellers multiply the wholesale price by 2 to determine the retail price. But some sellers may choose a higher number, multiplying the wholesale price by 2.5 or even 3 to determine the retail price, assuming that the market will bear that. Basically, the multiplier you choose is really up to you.

Another approach is to work backward, setting your retail price based on what you think people will pay for your item and then dividing that figure by 2 to establish your wholesale price.

Wait, don’t say it. We know what you’re thinking: “I’m going to sell my stuff only through my Etsy store, so I’ll just charge everyone my wholesale price.” Wrong! Even if you plan to sell your items exclusively through your Etsy shop, you need to establish both a wholesale price and a retail price, and you need to sell your pieces on Etsy at the retail rate. Why?

Even if you have no plans to expand beyond your Etsy shop, you don’t want to cheat yourself of the opportunity to offer wholesale prices to bulk buyers, if the opportunity arises.

You’ll almost certainly want to run the occasional sale in your Etsy shop; by pricing your goods for retail, you’ll have some leeway to discount them as needed and still turn a profit.

If you do develop a wholesale business, it’s especially important that you sell the pieces in your Etsy shop at the retail price. Otherwise, you’re undercutting your wholesale customers! Unless it’s your stated goal to alienate these customers, avoid this practice.

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